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[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

CaseySJ--will you or Elias be releasing instructions or modified BIOS'es for PEI/DXE drivers being inserted into the BIOS? Apologies if this is already addressed somewhere in here.
 
CaseySJ--will you or Elias be releasing instructions or modified BIOS'es for PEI/DXE drivers being inserted into the BIOS? Apologies if this is already addressed somewhere in here.

I'd also be interested in doing this for X299
 
CaseySJ--will you or Elias be releasing instructions or modified BIOS'es for PEI/DXE drivers being inserted into the BIOS? Apologies if this is already addressed somewhere in here.
Good question — we modified the BIOS in hopes of achieving better Thunderbolt monitor support and enabling Antelope Audio connections. But in the process we discovered AppleVTD and the benefits that it can bring by itself.

Testing of Thunderbolt monitors with modified BIOS and/or AppleVTD showed no real improvement. AppleVTD alone is very useful, but the BIOS modifications did not appear to make a difference.

Elias is still experimenting with Thunderbolt monitors in combination with a more heavily modified BIOS, but the work is still in early stages.
 
If I'm away for an extended period I always unplug the PC from the wall. Your building could have experienced a power outage. When the power surges back on is when it does the damage. On the sunny side, your board should still be covered by Gigabyte's 3 year warranty so you could get it replaced if it's a goner.
Okay, this is not good... :(

Now it's a matter of isolating components to see which one (hopefully only one) is bad.
  • If you have another PSU, we should try that first.
  • But if you don't, then we can try something like this:
    • Flip PSU to OFF
    • Remove GPU
    • Remove WiFi/BT card
    • Remove memory DIMMs
    • Flip PSU to ON
  • Try to boot. Which of the 4 LEDs light up, if any?
  • If nothing lights up, then:
    • Flip PSU to OFF
    • Remove CPU (yes, remove CPU)
    • Flip PSU to ON
  • Try to boot. Which of the 4 LEDs light up, if any?
P.S. Statistically speaking, the PSU is most likely to have gone bad, particularly if you are not using a surge protector or uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
So I've tested a new PSU unit & removed + re-installed all the components to see if something would boot.
It seems like the MB is the culprit, which is a pain. My vendor's warranty is worn out, so I'll most probably have to send the board to gigabyte and hope that they'll replace it. T_T

Is there a board I could replace / upgrade it with to be able to work again? My system is almost the EXACT same as the build here (only the RAM is not the same brand). I need TB to use with my Universal Audio interfaces.
 
Is there a board I could replace / upgrade it with to be able to work again?
I'll defer to CaseySJ to make a suggestion. I'm not yet using any 9th gen systems so I'm not sure what will be best for you. Ideally Gigabyte gives you a Z390 Designare replacement. Your i7-9700K won't work with a Z490 board so hopefully GA gives you another Z390 or you'd need a new CPU too.
 
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Hello @munky16,

Some comments and questions:
  • In your case it is not necessary to flash the firmware.
  • Are you using Asus ThunderboltEX 3 add-in-card?
  • IOReg screenshot indicates that you are not using a Thunderbolt hot-plug SSDT. It is advisable to have a hot plug SSDT.
  • What is the exact model name of your Asus X99 board?
  • Does your Antelope Orion have the latest firmware?
  • Are you using Catalina-approved drivers from Antelope?
  • If you connect and power on the Orion before booting macOS, does it connect?
  • Also, when you use IORegistryExplorer, please do notuse the search bar. Just scroll the device tree on left side until you get to RP08 and the Thunderbolt section comes into view. Then capture a screenshot.
    • (When we use search bar, the device tree collapses.)
Thanks for your reply.

After some tweaking in BIOS thunderbolt settings, the Antelope Orion studio shows up in the Catalina, the launcher pops up, the mixer shows up, and I can find it inside sound hardwares list.

But, there is no sound, just like the early years. The AppleVTD is not working.

That's weird. I did exactly as the instruction said, enable VT-D, checked Config/plist, uninstalled the launcher and driver, installed the latest the driver, reset interface twice, and re-connect it, restart.....

Btw, I and using one Asus ThunderboltEX 3 add-in-card with original firmware. I do have a hot plug TB3 SSDT. I will boot up the computer with interface powered on and TB cable connected. And I found out that cold power on will activate the interface, if I restart the computer, the interface will not shows up.

Here are some snapshots
 

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So I've tested a new PSU unit & removed + re-installed all the components to see if something would boot.
It seems like the MB is the culprit, which is a pain. My vendor's warranty is worn out, so I'll most probably have to send the board to gigabyte and hope that they'll replace it. T_T

Is there a board I could replace / upgrade it with to be able to work again? My system is almost the EXACT same as the build here (only the RAM is not the same brand). I need TB to use with my Universal Audio interfaces.

I'll defer to CaseySJ to make a suggestion. I'm not yet using any 9th gen systems so I'm not sure what will be best for you. Ideally Gigabyte gives you a Z390 Designare replacement. Your i7-9700K won't work with a Z490 board so hopefully GA gives you another Z390 or you'd need a new CPU too.
@ndrik,

In order to keep all the components you already have (including i7-9700K) and just swap the motherboard, your best choice will be another Z390 board. The Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme is expensive, but it's virtually a carbon copy of the Z390 Designare.

Have you searched the used market for Z390 Designare or Z390 AORUS Xtreme? Other options would be Gigabyte's Z390 Aorus Master, Z390 Aorus Pro, etc.

Screen Shot 2021-08-25 at 9.50.40 AM.png
 
Your'e a godsend. Will look into those.
I'm waiting on Gigabyte's answer as to how to deal with the warranty.

I definitely checked the used markets, but where I am it's almost non existent. And I'd rather not buy from over the border.

The Extreme is kinda over my budget. For a little more I could get a new mac mini and some USB-C case for my HDDs. It's crazy how those boards became more expensive really. The Designare seems to cost 2x what i paid for it on Newegg....

Also still at awe it broke like this.
 
Thanks for your reply.

After some tweaking in BIOS thunderbolt settings, the Antelope Orion studio shows up in the Catalina, the launcher pops up, the mixer shows up, and I can find it inside sound hardwares list.

But, there is no sound, just like the early years. The AppleVTD is not working.

That's weird. I did exactly as the instruction said, enable VT-D, checked Config/plist, uninstalled the launcher and driver, installed the latest the driver, reset interface twice, and re-connect it, restart.....

Btw, I and using one Asus ThunderboltEX 3 add-in-card with original firmware. I do have a hot plug TB3 SSDT. I will boot up the computer with interface powered on and TB cable connected. And I found out that cold power on will activate the interface, if I restart the computer, the interface will not shows up.

Here are some snapshots

As shown in the screenshot below, when IOAudioEngineUserClient appears, it means Antelope driver should be working. When you say "there is no sound", can you explain what this means (there is no sound output to a speaker, there is no sound coming into your sound editing application such as Logic Pro, there is no sound being output back to the Antelope device, etc.)?

Screen Shot 2021-08-25 at 22.54.58.png
 
Your'e a godsend. Will look into those.
I'm waiting on Gigabyte's answer as to how to deal with the warranty.

I definitely checked the used markets, but where I am it's almost non existent. And I'd rather not buy from over the border.

The Extreme is kinda over my budget. For a little more I could get a new mac mini and some USB-C case for my HDDs. It's crazy how those boards became more expensive really. The Designare seems to cost 2x what i paid for it on Newegg....

Also still at awe it broke like this.
If there is an electronics/PC repair shop near your home, it might be good to ask them to diagnose the problem. Generally there is a small fee for diagnosis, but a bigger fee to fix.
 
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